


Disappointment Comes After Success

by the_fluff_awakens



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comedy, Ex Lovers, I'm Sorry, Kylux Fic Exchange, M/M, Open ended, Post TLJ, hair washing to relieve stress, hux is thisclose to losing it completely, i don't even know how to classify this to be honest, i think, like at all, ren isn't helping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-15 09:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13610454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_fluff_awakens/pseuds/the_fluff_awakens
Summary: General Hux has a lot on his plate, especially now that his former co-commander and ex-lover is the new Supreme Leader. He drinks the bitterest tea and arms himself with pettiness and hope.





	Disappointment Comes After Success

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MoonwalkingCrab](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonwalkingCrab/gifts).



> Prompt: Hair washing/brushing
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you enjoy reading this.
> 
> Huge thanks goes out to @minzimpression for talking and helping me through this. You're a sweetheart, and I love you.

The new Supreme Leader’s massive failure at Crait is gnawing on him, and General Hux knows it. Ren had allowed his emotions to get the better of him, and this in turn allowed the pathetic remainder of the Resistance to escape right under his nose. It isn’t a very good way to start off one’s leadership career. 

Their very recent breakup notwithstanding, Hux can still very much read Ren like a blueprint, and he knows the Supreme Leader is not too far from another embarrassing meltdown. This, Hux awaits with bated breath. It’s one thing to let the officers and stormtroopers see the mysterious Master of the Knights of Ren lose his cool on a console, and a completely different thing to let them see their new _“leader”_ throwing a temper tantrum. It’s all so delicious for Hux to watch.

Call him petty if you will, but pettiness is all Hux has right now that the distribution of power is so imbalanced. Hux even finds some joy whenever he sees Ren’s greasy, flat hair, knowing that every tendril that touches his forehead irritates him to the very core. Going back to his empty private quarters and taking a sonic is never going to be enough to alleviate Ren’s stress. Hux smirks at the thought, fiddling with his cuffs as he passes Ren on the bridge after yet another _“surprise check”_ by the Supreme Leader.

—

_Hux entered his private quarters after working two hours past his shift, feeling tired and ready for a drink or two. He’d had to deal with Kylo’s latest outburst that had cost them another digital console, working with the budgets team to figure out how much it would cost to repair. Or replace entirely._

_He took off his coat and leather gloves, and headed for his liquor cabinet, ignoring the half naked man sprawled on the couch in his sitting room. Seeing as the man was responsible for his extra work, Hux did not think Kylo deserved a kiss tonight._

_“I’m sorry,” Kylo muttered, turning on his side and watching Hux pour himself a glass of Corellian whiskey. “I’m still having trouble locating the missing part of the map. The Light...it’s blocking my progress.”_

_Hux knew it wasn’t just Kylo’s frustration with the pull to the Light that was costing the Order valuable credits, but also Kylo’s fear that the Supreme Leader would deem him a lost cause should he be unable to fully deny this pull. Kylo had told him before that Snoke had said he wasn’t afraid to start anew with another Force user. Kylo wasn’t as special as he’d initially thought, Snoke had so lovingly informed him._

_Hux sipped his drink before setting his glass down on the table next to the couch. He took off his tunic, leaving his sleeveless undershirt on. He then sat down on the armchair, picking up his glass and crossing his legs._

_“Repairing the console will set me back two weeks in finishing the weapon,” Hux said, more to himself than to Kylo. “Hiring a personal psychiatrist to help you deal with your issues would cost us considerably less.”_

_“I don’t need a kriffing mental doctor! I’m not crazy.”_

_“Did your mother have you tested?”_

_The glass in Hux’s hand shattered, blood and amber liquid spilling down his forearm. He felt a sting on his cheek where a shard of glass cut him. He set his jaw and stared ahead, ignoring Kylo, who’d sat up angrily._

_“Get out,” Hux said through gritted teeth before standing up and heading for the kitchen. He punched a command on the panel by the wall, and a second later, a cleaning droid rolled out from under the kitchen sink and headed to the sitting room._

_He was washing his hands and checking them to make sure that he didn’t have any shards of glass on his palm when strong arms wrapped around his waist, soft lips pressing against the back of his neck._

_“I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”_

_He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t push Kylo away either. He was always weak for those lips. Kylo’s hand snaked under Hux’s shirt as he rested his chin on Hux’s shoulder. They watched Hux’s blood circling the drain until the water became clear again. Kylo reached for the med kit on one of the kitchen shelves and gave Hux the bacta tube. One swipe of the stuff and Hux’s skin sealed back up right in front of their eyes._

_“You need a less destructive way to deal with your anger,” Hux said as he put the bacta tube back into the med kit and closed it. “One that doesn’t cost the Order credits, or cost me my blood.”_

_Kylo took his newly healed hand and kissed it again and again. Hux sighed, using his other hand to run his fingers through Kylo’s hair._

_“Come here,” he said, suddenly getting flashbacks from a time he thought was long forgotten. Warm water on his hair, soft fingers massaging his scalp._

_He pulled one of the two chairs by the small dining table next to the sink, then told Kylo to sit. Kylo looked confused, but he’d just made Hux bleed, so he sat there quietly while Hux disappeared into the bedroom. He came back with Kylo’s cowl, a bottle of shampoo, a tube of conditioner and a vial of Rbollean petal-oil._

_He folded up the cowl before placing it on the edge of the sink, then made Kylo rest the back of his neck on it. He turned on the faucet and angled it right, getting Kylo’s hair wet. Kylo looked skeptical until Hux’s fingers slipped into his hair, massaging his scalp gently._

_“That’s...nice,” Kylo muttered and closed his eyes. By the time Hux applied shampoo on his hair, Kylo’s breathing was evening out._

_Hux worked the shampoo into a thick lather, reaching under Kylo’s head to make sure every strand of hair got washed, every inch of Kylo’s head massaged. He eventually ended up straddling Kylo’s lap because it made it easier to work the shampoo evenly. Kylo’s hands slipped under Hux’s shirt again, grabbing his waist lightly as he rinsed off the shampoo and applied conditioner._

_“Stop it,” he muttered when he could feel Kylo getting excited underneath him. Kylo’s hand had dipped down and was now massaging Hux’s ass._

_“I can’t,” Kylo whispered, moving his hips a little to rub off his hardening cock against Hux’s own. He used the Force to pull Hux down so he could press soft kisses onto that long neck. “This feels so nice.”_

_And that was how they ended up making out and dry humping by the sink, Kylo licking into Hux’s mouth, nibbling at Hux’s lower lip as Hux struggled to get Kylo to–_

_“Lie back down, the conditioner needs rinsing!”_

_Hux only just managed to rinse Kylo’s hair and put some oil on the tips of the wavy strands, before Kylo grabbed his ass, lifted him up, and walked them back to the bedroom._

—

Hux does not often like to think about his past with Ren, about the little rituals they developed in the course of their three-year relationship, but the hair washing is something that he can’t help but think back to now.

Because now, Ren’s hair looks _ridiculous,_ and Hux really isn’t surprised whenever he passes a reflective surface that suddenly has a crack or a break on it. Now that he can’t hide behind his mask anymore, Ren is faced with the difficult task of seeing his reflection everywhere.

His thoughts are interrupted by a harried-looking officer who seems disturbed by the sinister smile on Hux’s face.

“Pardon me, General, Supreme Leader has asked for you.”

Hux exhales deeply, irritation coloring his face as he turns to the young officer.

“He was just here. What could he possibly need from me now that he didn’t a few minutes ago?”

“Sir?”

“Never mind.”

Hux dismisses the officer and looks around the bridge. Everything seems to be in order and can be left for a few minutes. Ren will probably just demand a report from him and smirk through it all, knowing how much Hux hates that he has to do that now.

He turns and exits the bridge, checking himself in the mirror to see that his hair is still perfectly in place. He’s looking downright Sith-like these past few weeks, basically living off of the bitterest tea that can be brewed in the galaxy, but at least his hair is still perfectly in place, which is more than Ren can say for himself. A small smirk plays on his lips as he marches down the corridors towards Ren’s makeshift throne room. With the _Supremacy_ out for the count (something that still drives Hux to his liquor shelf whenever he thinks about how its demise played out), and Hux’s Resurgent-class Star Destroyer, the _Finalizer,_ blown up, they’ve had to make do with one of the smaller ships, which isn’t really fitted to house the Supreme Leader.

Still. If needs must, and all that.

Hux punches in his code for the throne room and is immediately greeted by a scowling Ren, standing right in front of the door with his fists balled at his sides.

“What took you so long?”

 _You used to like it when I took my time,_ Hux thinks, then remembers belatedly to shield his thoughts. He used to always do so that he didn’t have to make a conscious effort anymore, especially since he used to share a bed with Ren back then. 

Too late for the shield, because Ren has obviously caught that slip. Something in the way he shifts where he stands tells Hux that Ren’s own thoughts have drifted momentarily. 

Hux resists the urge to roll his eyes as he steps inside and lets the door slide shut behind him. He makes a show of running his hand over his hair, smiles when Ren’s eyes follow the movement, then walks past him, only just avoiding bumping against his shoulder.

“You know very well that I was on the bridge. You, yourself, must have only gotten here, seeing as you were there too just a moment ago. Now that you’re Supreme Leader, surely you must understand that some of us have actual work to do. Now, are you going to tell me why I’ve been summoned, or am I to guess?”

He turns around to face Ren, who is still standing in front of the door, but has turned to face him too. His right hand flexes at his side, and Hux can practically still feel his windpipe constricting. Has it really only been a week since Ren dared to use his powers on Hux? He squares his jaw and looks Ren in the eye again, tilting his chin up as if daring Ren to go ahead, choke him again if he dares.

Ren doesn’t. 

Instead, his hands relax as he starts to pace the room, darting furtive glances towards Hux’s general direction, though not quite meeting his eyes.

“I’ve apologized again and again about–”

“Surely you did not interrupt my work for another useless apology. It’s in the past, Ren...pardon me...Supreme Leader.”

Ren stops pacing and finally meets his gaze again. Something like regret flits over his soft features, but Hux refuses to acknowledge it.

" _All_ of it,” he continues. “All of it is in the past now.”

Ren starts to shake his head, then stops, runs his gloved fingers through his greasy, flat hair instead. He breathes in deeply, as if to steel himself for something.

“Well, I hope at least one thing isn’t,” he says, gesturing with two fingers for Hux to follow him. Hux does, keeping his hands behind his back as he walks four paces behind Ren. 

“I’m aware that Su–...that Snoke refused to give you the title you’ve long deserved,” Ren continues. “Indeed, in our private quarters, I’ve used that title to refer to you when we–”

“ _Yes, I know._ Get to the point.”

“My point is that you are going to be Grand Marshall Hux from now on. Have them ready the necessary documents and I’ll sign them immediately.”

Hux almost stops in his tracks, not expecting anything like this at all. If things between them hadn’t turned so sour after Starkiller, Hux would have kissed Ren right now. 

“Furthermore, I’ve had something commissioned as part of your promotion.”

A promotion (he has long deserved) _and_ a gift? Hux can’t quite figure out what has gotten into Ren, but he definitely isn’t complaining. He walks behind Ren towards a partition that protrudes from the ground like it grew there, the only disturbance in the otherwise plain room. Ren disappears behind the partition, and when Hux reaches it, he finds something very confusing and odd.

“Is that…”

It is. 

Behind the partition sits one of their interrogation chairs, already tilted back. Hux would have panicked if not for the obvious modifications that Ren has apparently done to it. There are no shackles for the wrists and ankles, and the top half of the headrest is missing.

Behind the chair stands a small counter height table, and on it is a large, deep, porcelain basin, with a handheld shower attached to the side. Familiar bottles, tubes and vials are arranged on a small tray next to the sink. 

Hux cannot find the words. 

He chuckles as Ren actually climbs onto the chair. Surely, he can’t be serious. He raises his eyebrows as Ren gets settled in, resting the back of his neck on the chopped off headrest and looking expectantly at Hux. 

“This is now part of your duty, to keep your Supreme Leader from getting overly stressed. It is your first task as Grand Marshall.”

Hux is speechless. He’s astonished. He’s raving mad. 

Ren closes his eyes and rakes his fingers through his hair again. 

“Don’t forget to apply the oils to the tips.”

Hux’s hand twitches towards his blaster.

 

*

**Author's Note:**

> Does Hux wash the Supreme Leader's hair? Do they end up humping again? Or does he finally draw that blaster on Ren?
> 
> (I'm actually considering writing a sequel to this, just because I'd originally planned to include smut but chickened out at the last minute.)


End file.
